SAN FRANCISCO — For the 21st consecutive year, LeBron James was voted an All-Star Game starter.
However, for the first time in all those years, he is sitting out the All-Star Game, citing foot and ankle soreness, which he has been playing through for a couple of weeks.
“You won’t see anything for me tonight, unfortunately. I will not be in uniform tonight, still dealing with ankle and foot discomfort, so I will not be playing tonight,” LeBron said pregame. “Unfortunately. I hate that, but I’m looking forward to seeing the format. This is the first year for it. I know we got a lot of great… they call us the OGs. That’s hilarious. We got a few guys with gray hairs, so that makes sense, but that should be fun.”
LeBron’s announcement less than two hours before the game meant that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver didn’t have time to name a replacement for the squad.
LeBron’s absence also ends the fun of the first-round matchup between LeBron and the Shaq OGs team going against Lakers’ rookie Dalton Knecht on the Rising Stars winners (we still get a Suns matchup, Kevin Durant vs. Ryan Dunn).
“I saw the quote the other day, DK was somebody who’s gonna play against me,” LeBron said with a laugh. “I guess I’ll send him my practice and hopefully I’ll get practice and go out of there.”
With LeBron at age 40, there are no sure things concerning his future, but his choosing not to play in this game felt like another hint that he plans to play at least one more season. It’s hard to imagine him walking off the NBA and All-Star stage without one more chance to bask in the love he would get from fans (especially with the 2026 All-Star Game in Los Angeles).
“I have a great appreciation for the moment, because I understand that it’s not going to be a lot of lot of moments going into into the future,” LeBron said. “Whenever that that time is, whenever that time comes. So you have an opportunity to really, really, truly appreciate every single moment and and take it all in.”
